Now that all the offseason hullabaloo is finally done and dealt with, let’s get back to our player preview series. This piece on DeAndre Jordan was penned by Charlie Widdoes:

Eric Gordon may have commanded the majority of the offseason buzz with his performance for Team USA, but he is not the only 2008 draftee Clippers fans should be thinking about heading into this season. When the team drafted DeAndre Jordan in the 2nd round (35th overall), many familiar with his pedigree saw it as a move with little risk attached that could potentially pay huge benefits down the road.

In two seasons, he has remained on course thanks in part to a very patient approach form the organization. Entering his third pro season, Jordan has improved enough to earn a chance to join the Clippers’ regular rotation this season, and the way he performs could have a major impact for the team and for his future.

Between Mike Dunleavy and Kim Hughes, the team gave Jordan every opportunity to grow as a player, and was very clear about their expectations for him. They told him that if he rebounded and played defense, he would play. When they traded Marcus Camby, Jordan responded to increased playing time with a strong finish to the season, grabbing 10 or more rebounds in eight of the team’s final 15 games, while shooting over 60% from the floor. He will be 22 years old this season, and while he has a chance to make a difference, he still has some major flaws that could limit his potential. For one, he is a career 38% free throw shooter. He has yet to show any refined post moves, and while his propensity to try to dunk everything is a nice fastball to Chris Kaman’s changeup, teams can send him to the line with the confidence that he won’t punish them.

How He Fits

Jordan has established himself as an NBA-quality finisher at the rim, shot-blocker, and rebounder. He also tends to be an extremely efficient player offensively because most of his shots come so close to the basket. His numbers per 36 minutes (11.1 rebounds, 10.6 points, 2.0 blocks) suggest he may be ready to fulfill the role of backup center in the Clippers’ rotation. Even if Chris Kaman is healthy, which is no sure thing, there is a role for a big man off the bench who can provide what Jordan can on the glass and on the defensive end. In summer league, acting head coach Dean Demopolous (likely with direction from Vinny Del Negro) featured Jordan heavily in the offense, a move that may provide insight into their expectations for his development this season.

They made a point to involve Jordan, both in the low post and on the high screen and roll with Eric Bledsoe. By going to him on nearly every half court possession early in summer league, despite plenty of rough moments, the Clippers gave even more indication that they want to see DeAndre seize a spot in the rotation. He still has a long way to go in getting good post position, as well as finishing with post moves and short jumpers, but the skills he does have can be valuable to the team if applied consistently. Compared to the top five players in the league in blocked shots– Dwight Howard (11.4), Andrew Bogut (5.4), Josh Smith (7.4), Brendan Haywood (11.3) and Marcus Camby (9) – 82games.com’s shot block rating shows Jordan (7.2) actually looks like he belongs.

During a broadcast last season, Ralph Lawler noted that the team considered DeAndre to be a year ahead of his expected development schedule. Considering the improvement he showed down the stretch after Camby left, it’s reasonable to believe that he could fulfill a rotation spot this season as Kaman’s backup. An ideal situation would have DeAndre emerge as a defensive difference maker and a glass controller, all while remaining comfortable and efficient enough on offense to go from rotation big man in 2010-11 to NBA starting center by the time Kaman’s contract expires. At that point, the team will have to begin paying Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin substantially more than they are making on their rookie deals, and it will be up to DeAndre to show he’s deserving of a pay raise as well.

Ceiling/Floor

DeAndre Jordan’s ceiling is the reason why many Clippers fans were ecstatic to see the team take him in the draft. He has the combination of size and athleticism to be one of the best rebounding and defending big men in the league. His offensive game still has glaring weaknesses, but he also does a few things so well (rebound and dunk), that consistent effort could make him a very valuable weapon off the bench. With another year of development and continued playing time, Jordan could actually make Kaman expendable, at least by the time his contract comes up after next season. He isn’t there yet, but he certainly has that type of potential if he can improve his free throw shooting and develop some basic post moves.

When he was a freshman at Texas A&M, his coach, Mark Turgeon, said he was an 18-year old kid going on 12. His emotional development has always been as important to his career as his ability to rebound. While the organization has been patient with him and generally encouraged by his progress, Clippers fans have seen DeAndre Jordan’s floor, at least the NBA version, and it has been pretty ugly at times. That he is such an exceptional athlete for his size only accentuates the wayward movement of his body when it goes the wrong way. As was the case with Dunleavy and Hughes, Jordan will contribute as a backup big if he can rebound and play defense with consistent effort.

From what I have seen at this point Jordan has three major problems on defense.

1. His foot speed is below average
2. He can’t read offenses very well
3. He is out of position too often

Clearly #2 and #3 can be improved upon with more coaching and experience. As far as #1 goes I don’t think he will improve that much but if he gets good enough at #2 and #3 those skills could compensate for his lack of foot speed.

Cliptonyte

Jordan’s foot speed is excellent. His feet often move faster than his brain. Kim Hughes said that DJ had such great lateral quickness, that he could become a Bill Russell type defender.

You are correct about #2 and #3

J-Luggy

Agreed. The footspeed is there. 1 is more an illusion of 2 and 3.

charlie widdoes

akram, Thanks for the correction. I forgot that as a second-rounder he isn’t under the same two year, plus two team option contract as first rounders.

http://zhiv.wordpress.com zhiv

Good stuff. DJ is a fascinating piece of the Clipper puzzle. One major bit of data that was very intriguing this summer was his matchup with JeVale McGee in the Clippers first summer league game. John Wall’s debut and his matchup with former running mate Bledsoe were the headlines, but Jordan vs. McGee was just as compelling, and Jordan didn’t come out looking very good. Part of it was the way that he carries himself, noted by the commentators, that despite his height and length and athleticism, very similar to McGee’s, he’s a little hunched up and doesn’t project the same length, defensive presence, and prowess as McGee or a Thabeet (a #2 pick, of course). I happen to think that he makes up for this with some southpaw craftiness, and his rebounding productivity is solid enough, but his defensive instincts and skills have a long way to go.

I’m not sure that there’s an either/or with Kaman. Right now Kaman and Griffin are complementary starters, and DJ is Kaman’s backup. Kaman himself took forever to develop into the solid player he is at this point, and there are still all sorts of questions about him that we hope to see answered this year, playing with Griffin. The note on DJ’s deal is a good one, because the Clippers should have an opportunity to make a reasonable deal with him as a backup (and rotation player), without overspending, and then address how Kaman fits into their future (if he’s not traded first).

Another key element is DJ’s relationship with Griffin, which was immediately close. It’s possible that DJ was more impacted by Griffin’s injury than anybody, after they played so well together in summer league last year; it might have hurt his confidence and focus. In those summer league 09 games we got to see how Griffin makes plays for himself and other players as well, and he used DJ’s presence around and above the rim with considerable effectiveness. We got another glimpse of DJ’s “ceiling” when Kaman was injured before the disastrous Memphis game and BDavis helped DJ look phenomenal in an amazing first half. Again, DJ is a fascinating piece, and it will be fun to watch his progress.

http://www.clipperblog.com D.J. Foster

Zhiv — is it okay if I send you an email? I want to ask you about something.

http://zhiv.wordpress.com zhiv

please do.

griffin

Great post dj and great comment zhiv. I like jordan and i think that griffin is good with jordan and hopefully griffin can have some impact on jordans offense and defense

Bongstradamus

Im glad you mentioned the chemistry. For a team that rarely has it, i thought it was refreshing to see how quickly and well DJ and Blake worked together last year. I love DJ, and I think plying him with minutes till he’s drunk with the game is in the teams best interests for the future.

It will be interesting to see if DJ blossoms with VDN. Noah took a huge leap last year and I hope part of that was VDN’s influence.

T & another T

DJ is fun to watch but he’ll never be a starting center. If he doesn’t have an offensive game at 22 when will he have it? 24? 28? He can be a backup for Kaman but he’s a liability on defense too.

TAAT

Dump Davis

I agree with most of this, but it’s not realistic to think he’ll progress enough ever, much less in a year, to make Kaman expendable. He started playing basketball way too late to ever be anything other than a dunker who can grab some rebounds.

That’s why Kaman can’t be dealt for Anthony. Starting Jordan at center would be digging a permanent hole in the post. The player to deal for Anthony is Davis, possibly in a three way with Charlotte as someone else originally suggested.

Scott S.

If you trade Kaman to get Anthony, DJ becomes Perkins in the Celtics lineup. Talent all around him and all he needs to do is rebound, play d, and set screens. The Clippers could play similar to how the Cetlics use their big 4. You now have Davis, Gordon, Griffin, and Melo surrounding DJ and he is not asked to do much but play big. He would also probably thrive on put backs and dunks.

You think Bledsoe is ready to step in and start and DJ has no possibility of that? Bledsoe will replace Baron, quite nicely, but not yet. The team is better now with Davis than it is with Kaman.

Frank H

Does anyone know how DJ’s work ethic is? The talent is obvious, but for anyone to develop they need to put in the time. I know there are plenty of examples of players who don’t ever improve their free throw shooting and it still boggles me. I saw a clip a long while back of this free throw coach that the mavericks hired who claimed that free throw shooting was not (as widely believed) to be dependent on one’s mental make-up, but in fact, largely dependent on technique. If this is true (and it makes sense), I don’t understand why DJ doesn’t put up a thousand free throws a day in practice (I certainly would if all I had to do all summer was play basketball).

Sam K

DJ’s tweet today: “Going to take a nap.”

So….yeah.

http://hitfix.com/awardscampaign jgroove

At best, DJ is probably a Tony Battie type. Remember, Battie was drafted too high and had similar first seasons to DJ. But, the older he got, the more he settled down and became a solid defensive player. He just seems like he’s going in that direction to me.

clippafan4life

Our PFs haven’t been very impressive while DJ has been on the team. I think the more he is allowed to roam and get tips and dunks around the rim because Blake is commanding respect from the defense the more we will see how effective he is. I see him being like Dwight Howard or Andrew Bynum. Look at Bynum this guy has no natural scoring ability and still has good numbers because he has Gasol and an offense that knows what its doing. We let DJ operate around the rim against another big and he either goes over him or gets fouled simple as that. DJ can’t roam because no one cares about Gooden, Skinner, Randolph or Camby destroying them offensively. Our forwards have to command respect for DJ to do work around the rim. Can Blake, Rhino, Gomes, Butler command respect for DJ to operate? I hope we add a scoring small forward who can give our bigs breathing room to operate around the basket so we can unleash their talents.

Scott S.

Well said.

Sportsed

The 1st thing to remember is that it usually takes a big man longer to develop than smaller players. DJ is coming along nicely, he’ll never be a consistent scorer or have very good post moves (see D Howard, the 1st pick in his draft), However, playing alongside Blake, who is a “winner”, Jordan will be “forced” to learn defensive rotations and perform them in a timely fashion. His rebounding is fine, and his dunks are great, he has good hands—-he does catch all those passes, but the ft are terrible. He has decent form on his ft, but he’s admitted that he gets nervous during the game (I’ve heard he makes them in practice). Jordan’s left- handed, but he does a lot of other things right-handed, this, I think, also is a reason for his slowed development. Jordan needs another year, possibly two, as a backup, but he can be a starter in the future as a good defensive/rebounding center, just don’t expect the points to EVER come on a consistent basis—–we’ll need other guys to score the points. Thanks for the article, and I like the other above comments as well. DJ just gotta keep working, and he’ll always be cheaper because of his 2nd round status. Now I’m hoping Warren and Blakely develop into great NBA bench guys for our future.

Jeezy

I think DJs ceiling is a Tyson Chandler type athletic/defender. Look how successful Chandlers been in his career especially with CP3 catching lobs.

Jeezy

I think DJs ceiling is a Tyson Chandler type athletic/defender. Look how successful Chandlers been in his career especially with CP3 catching lobs.

Respect Griffin

Can we please start this season already??????

Hiretarktheshark.com

DJ is a taller less offensively skilled clumsy version of chris Wilcox. He is a great blogger though and a much better option as the 12th man than Brian skinner. I think we should think of him that way and we won’t be disappointed. He’ll get plenty if PT by the 3rd week once j powells training costs us 3 of 5 starters and 3 of 4 bench rotation guys. Can’t wait to start signing 10 day Dan dickau contracts!

Joeluis

nice Article.
DJ is like Turriaf was for the lakers. the cheerleader with small minutes but a good character that builds the team’s chemistry.
We should blog about B. Cook now. haah JK.

Dump Davis

Those who say DeAndre Jordan will improve if he just practices more are making the very faulty assumption that a full grown man in his twenties can suddenly start playing basketball and learn the game by practicing a lot. That is a completely invalid assumption. It’s nothing but a pipe dream. The guy cannot shoot. All he can do is dunk. He’s never going to be able to shoot. On defense, all he can do is lumber around and foul a lot. That’s all he’s ever going to be able to do with consistency — dunk and foul.

RL

And that is why we should dump Davis.. lol.. right? right?

Respect Griffin

r u even a Clipper fan dump? You are a negative, bitter, pessimist. We don’t need Clipper fan’s like you, losers like you deserve to be lakers fans. Go jump on the laker bandwagon son.

The Clipboard

Even Donald Sterling knew it was a mistake to keep DJ when teams were offering a future first round pick for him when he was drafted. I think it’s fair to say that we’d rather have the first round pick. Hindsight is always 20/20 but perhaps Donald Sterling knew better than all the so-called experts on this one.